It's (Still) Soup Season: Make This Quick + Delish Roasted Asparagus Soup with Spinach and Sunflower Cream

April 14, 2020

We’ve been daydreaming about spring since the first day of winter, coping with chilly commutes by picturing Aperol spritz-fueled picnics with absurd quantities of strawberries. When April finally rolls around, here we are living our best bunker lives but no complaints here whatsoever because every cloud has a silver lining. Our silver lining looks like, smells like and tastes like food. This week we are all about fresh, creamy yet light chlorophyll-packed roasted asparagus soup.

These recipe also calls for a white wine. It’s important to remember that by the time your dish is done, you won’t be able to tell a $50 bottle from a $10 one so stay away from that expensive wine isle. What actually matters is the type of wine you’re buying. There is a definite no when it comes to cooking with wine. STAY AWAY FROM COOKING WINE. Because there’s no point—you’re already getting rid of the alcohol, so why start with a product that has eliminated it for you? There are also additives in cooking wine, like salt and preservatives that mess with the natural lightness and acidity that wine brings to a dish.

 

The best white wines for cooking:

〰 Sauvignon Blanc
〰 White Bordeaux
〰 Pinot Grigio
〰 Sancerre
〰 Dry Vermouth

Also what to do with the wine you don't cook with. Just kidding—you know what to do. 😉

Adding the home-made sunflower cream is a game changer. It's the perfect way to make this soup creamy while keeping it healthy and giving you lots of healthy fats. It’s a lovely addition to soups, porridges, dressings or sauces.

Best of all? This soup only takes 30 minutes to make.

Let’s get cookin’!!!

 

Roasted Asparagus Soup with Spinach and Sunflower Cream

 

INGREDIENTS

Roasted Asparagus

• 1 pound asparagus
• 1 medium shallot (sliced)
• 2 TSPs olive oil
• 1 clove garlic (sliced)
• 3 TBSPs white wine
• 1/4 TSP salt

Soup

• 1 ½ cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 ½ cups water
• 2 cups packed baby spinach
• 3 TBSPs white wine
• salt (to taste)

Sunflower Cream

• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 TSP zest
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• pinch of salt
  
  

PREPARATION

1. Cover sunflower seeds with water and let sit for 2 hours. Drain and place the sunflower seeds in a blender or food processor with the rest of the ingredients. Puree, adding more water as needed, until the cream is smooth. Set aside.
   
   
2. Preheat oven to 450˚F. Chop 1” from the bottom of the asparagus. Place in a roasting pan along with the sliced shallots, garlic, olive oil, and salt and pour over 3 TBSPs of white whine. Toss until everything is combined and well coated with the olive oil. Roast asparagus until tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
   
   
3. Heat the water/broth on the stovetop until warm. When asparagus is tender, combine with the spinach and 2 cups of the hot broth mixture in a blender. Puree until smooth, add more broth/water as needed to thin the soup. Set aside extra broth and pour the soup into the pot.
   
   
4. Heat the soup over low until warm. Stir in 3 to 4 tablespoons of the sunflower cream. Divide the soup into two bowls and top with an extra drizzle of sunflower cream. Serve with Spelt Cakes. Enjoy!

 

 

Did you make this recipe? We get crazy excited when you make our recipes and we always love to see how they turn out. 
Tag @smartbitesnacks on Instagram and hashtag it #SmartbiteSnacks

Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

---

Also in BLOG